Multiply rhododendrons: How to proceed

Rhododendron fans don’t have to dig deep to have many of the magnificent ornamental shrubs in their garden. You can also multiply them yourself.

You can propagate your rhododendron using two basic methods: either using offshoots or cuttings. These procedures do not cause any major problems for hobby gardeners either, but not all species and varieties are suitable for this treatment.

Propagation with offshoots is particularly suitable for older plants. If your rhododendron has already developed side shoots near the ground, you can start.

1. Pick one of these shoots.
2. Using a clean, sharp knife, cut into the rind about six inches below the whorl of leaves.
3. Finally, use a matchstick to keep the notch open.
   The first step in propagating your rhododendron is to encourage the formation of the wound tissue that will later become a root.
4. Now comes the actual laying, where you dig the open area of ​​the side shoot about five to ten centimeters deep in humus-rich soil.
5. Fix the end of the shoot with a support stick and wait until its own roots have formed – this usually happens the following spring.
6. Propagate the rhododendron by separating the side shoot from the mother plant with a sharp spade.
7. The offshoot is finally planted in the new location.

Tip: Don’t forget to water the young plant sufficiently.

If you propagate your rhododendron and use the cuttings method, your variety should be one of the particularly robust and vigorous specimens of its kind. For example, the rhododendron varieties Catawbiense or Cunningham’s White are suitable.

1. Cut the cuttings from the plant in late summer, basically only so-called head cuttings: these are the ends of the shoots. If a flower bud has already formed, you can remove it, but the leaf bud must remain on the shoot.
2. So that you can propagate your rhododendron, you should finally cut the cuttings to a hand’s width and free them from the lower leaves.
3. Make a light cut at the base of the stem to promote root development, as with the one-shoot method. The cuttings must also grow in special potting soil and are covered with a freezer bag – this is how you improvise a small greenhouse.
4. You can already see the first results after a few weeks.

Lowering is a rather laborious method of propagating the rhododendron.

1. Dig a small trench in the ground around the rhododendron.
2. Then press the side shoots of the ornamental shrub close to the ground into them.
3. Now they should fix the pressed shoots in the ground. This works best with a round bar or a peg (camping supplies). The important thing is that the leaves of the branches or shoots should be pointing upwards. They should also not lie on the ground, otherwise they will start to rot.
4. Cover the lowered branches with some moss, leaves or even soil. Humus and bark mulch are also suitable. This cover stimulates the formation of roots in the shoots.
5. Once the roots have formed, the lowered shoot can be separated from the mother plant.
6. The cuttings can then be planted either in a pot or in the same bed a little apart.

Another method of propagating rhododendrons is mossing. This is similar to propagation by subsidence.

1. Find a suitable drive.
2. Using a clean, sharp knife, cut the bark of the rhododendron about four to six inches below the whorl of the leaves.
3. Finally, use a matchstick to keep the notch open.
   The first step in propagating your rhododendron is to encourage the formation of the wound tissue that will later become a root.
4. Now wrap the cut surface first with damp spaghnum moss and then with a black plastic sleeve. This keeps the half-cut twig warm and moist while protecting it at the same time.
5. After about two months, roots should have formed.
6. Then separate the offshoot and plant it.

If you don’t have a rhododendron in your garden to get cuttings or offshoots from, you can also use seed pods from specialist retailers. But the rhododendron can also carry seed pods if the flowers have been fertilized accordingly. The problem with this method: Propagating the rhododendron using seed pods is tedious and sometimes difficult.

• Plant viable seed pods in small pots of potting soil.
• Place the seed in the greenhouse.
• It will take up to six months before the seeds sprout.
• The young plants can be transplanted after one to two years.